Various types of stethoscopes (e.g. bell type, diaphragm type) are well known for purposes of conveying sounds from within a patient's body to a medical examiner during the examination of the patient. Currently, the diaphragm type of stethoscope is the most commonly used in the examination of both child and adult patients. As is well known, in using either a bell or diaphragm type stethoscope, the bell or diaphragm member thereof is placed on the warm skin of the chest, back or abdomen of the patient's body. A major problem associated with such stethoscopes results from the temperature of the bell or diaphragm member being lower than the temperature of the skin of the patient when the bell or diaphragm is pressed thereagainst. As can be appreciated, this temperature differential oftentimes causes distress in patients, especially children and infants, when auscultating the chest, back and abdomen. Particularly, the cold touch causes squirming, withdrawal or crying in infants and children and creates the possibility of tachycardia in susceptible adults.
Though a number of devices for providing warmed portions of stethoscopes are known in the prior art, such devices possess certain inherent deficiencies which detract from their overall utility. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,361 to Swinyar, et al. The device disclosed in this particular reference generally comprises an electrically heated hanger which is constructed to be hung on a nail or the like to a wall or other vertical support surface. The hanger is constructed in a manner so as to be usable only with diaphragm type stethoscopes and is provided with a pronged plug to electrically connect the heating element disposed in the hanger to a conventional electrical duplex wall socket. Thus, although the Swinyar, et al. device may be used to warm diaphragm type stethoscopes, the device is not portable and therefore is not readily usable by medical examiners during hospital rounds or other activities wherein such medical examiners are required to be in multiple locations.
A second device directed to providing a warmed stethoscope is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,806 to Nobles Jr. The Nobles Jr. device comprises a diaphragm type stethoscope having a heating element mounted within the head of the stethoscope substantially adjacent the diaphragm member. The device further includes a source of electrical power (i.e. a battery) which is fixedly attached to the head of the stethoscope in electrical communication with the heating element to selectively activate the heating element. Though Nobles Jr. addresses the problem of providing a warmed stethoscope diaphragm, this reference requires specially constructed stethoscopes to incorporate a heating element and power supply therein and hence, fails to allow retrofit to existing stethoscope constructions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,213,960 to Wagner discloses a stethoscope head cover for insulating a stethoscope head from changes in temperature. However, the insulating cover disclosed in the reference merely insulates the stethoscope head from changes in temperature and will not prevent discomfort to the patient caused by the difference in the temperature between the stethoscope head and the patient's skin unless the head has been previously heated to a temperature corresponding to the temperature of the patient's body. Thus, there exists a need in the art for a stethoscope warming device which is portable, easy to construct and usable with more than one type of stethoscope.